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Cloud Storage in Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

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We can store our data on a remote server with Google Cloud storage, and we can access that data whenever we need to. In addition, Google Cloud Platform provides a number of cloud storage choices, each with special features and applications. The types are listed below.

  1. Google Cloud Persistent Disk(Block Storage)
  2. Google Cloud Filestore(Network File storage)
  3. Google Cloud Storage (Object Storage).
  4. Google Cloud Storage for Firebase
  5. Google Cloud Storage Transfer Service

Google Cloud Persistent Disks (Block Storage)

A type of block storage called Google Cloud Persistent Disks offers dependable and quick storage for your virtual machine instances on the Google Cloud Platform.

  • We can back up our storage using persistent discs, which allow us to attach discs of various sorts and sizes, such as SSDs or HDDs, to the necessary virtual machines. This block storage will boost throughput and decrease latency.
  • Because of its high durability and support for snapshots, persistent discs enable us to take a disc backup when necessary without losing any data.
  • Once the disk is attached to the VMs then also we can change the size of the disk which makes them more flexible it can be done without losing the data.
  • Persistent Disks are more secure we can encrypt the data by using a Google key or customer-managed keys and also we can restrict the access of the disk to specific users, groups, or resources by using IAM roles

Google Cloud Filestore (Network File Storage)

A controlled network file storage service offered by Google Cloud Platform is Google Cloud File Store. It enables reliable performance and high availability for storing and sharing files.

  • We can create files with the aid of file storage that can be mounted onto the necessary path and accessed from an instance operating on the GCP or on-premises.
  • File storage is available in two types: 
    1. Standard tier: It provides a throughput of 800 MB/s per share, which will result in minimal latency and good performance.
    2. Premium tier: The premium tier’s throughput is 1.2 GB/s per share, enables SSD storage and can be particularly beneficial for applications that require high IOPs and low latency.
  • Automatic snapshots will be taken in the file storage, and since our storage is automatically backed up, we can prevent data loss.

Google Cloud Storage (Object Storage)

Object storage is scalable, durable, and secure once we store our data in object storage it can be accessed from anywhere means the object storage is region independent.

  1. Object storage is very different from Block storage and file storage in this we store the data in the form of objects it is more suited for static data like videos, photos, etc. 
  2. We can save our data in accordance with our needs; for example, if we frequently use it, we will keep it in Standard storage, while less frequently accessed data can be kept in Coldline and Archive for long-term data access.
  3. Object storage offers us data encryption, data replication, and lifecycle management which make it more reliable and we can integrate the object storage with multiple GCP services like Google Cloud Functions, BigQuery, and AI Platform, enabling you to build powerful applications.

Google Cloud Storage Classes, Archival Storage, And Lifecycle Management Rules

For various use cases, Google Cloud Storage offers a variety of storage classes, including Archival Storage, which is made for data that is rarely accessed but needs to be kept for a long time.

Archival Storage: Archival storage is mainly used for storing data that is in infrequent access and can be retained for long periods of time. Archival data can provide a cost-effective option for storing data that is not accessed frequently but must be preserved for legal, regulatory, or business reasons.

Benefits of using Archival Storage

  1. Low Cost: The data stored in Archival storage is not accessed that frequently so the cost of the storage will also be very low.
  2. High durability: When compared to the durability of the Archival storage it same as the other storage. 
  3. Long retention period:  The data is stored in Archival storage it will be stored for long periods it will be available for more than 8 years. 
  4. Lifecycle management: With the help of lifecycle management rules the data can be moved automatically to the Archival storage. 

Accessing the data from the Archival storage is very slow then compared with other storage if the data is needed frequently the Archival data is not a suitable option.

Types of Storages Classes 

Google Cloud Platform(GCP) offers different types of storage in storage classes that can be used for efferent purposes and we can use them based on their performances. The following are the storage classes available in GCP

  1. Standard Storage: The data which needs to be accessed frequently can be stored in Standard Storage for a general purpose. The data which is stored in this storage class is very highly available and helps us to decrease the latency.
  2. Nearline Storage: The data must be highly available but not accessed as frequently as standard storage. The which needs to be accessed within seconds or minutes can be stored in Nearline Storage. 
  3. Coldline Storage: The data which is accessed infrequently can be stored in Coldline storage. The data which needs to be accessed within hours can be stored in this Coldline Storage. 

The storage mentioned above will have different pricing, availability, and performance. Based on our requirements and cost we can choose the storage class that is required for us. We can also use lifecycle management rules to automatically transition data based on our requirements. 

Which Storage Should I Use?

Your use case’s particular requirements will determine which Google Cloud Platform (GCP) storage option is best for you. The following list of typical GCP storage options and use cases include:

Object Storage:  Large amounts of data, such as pictures, movies, backups, and archives, can be stored in the cloud. A RESTful API is used to access cloud storage, which makes it simple to integrate with other programs and services.

Block Storage: Compute Engine persistent disks are suitable for storing data that require low-latency access, such as databases, transactional workloads, and high-performance computing (HPC) applications.

FileStore: Workloads including media rendering, analytics, and content management are ideal for Cloud Filestore. Despite being primarily an object storage service, cloud storage can also be used to store files.

Storage in GCP

 

 

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is a fully managed scalable service, no need to provision capacity ahead of time. Each object in Cloud storage has a URL. Cloud storage consists of buckets you create and configure and use to hold your storage objects(immutable – no edit, create new versions). Cloud storage encrypts your data on the server side before being written to disk. (by default = https). You can move objects of cloud storage to other GCP storage services. When you create a bucket, it is given a globally unique name, specify a geographic location where the bucket and its contents are stored, and a default storage class.

Bucket attributes Bucket contents
Globally unique name Files in a flat namespace
Storage class N/A
Location Region or multi-region
IAM policies or access control lists Access Control Lists(ACLs) offer finer controls
Object versioning setting N/A
Object lifecycle management rules N/A
Parameters Multi-regional Regional Nearline Coldline
Intended for data that is Most frequently accessed Accessed frequently within a region Accessed less than a month Accessed less than once a year
Availability SLA 99,95% 99.90% 99.00% 99.00%
Access APIs

Consistent APIs

Access time

Millisecond access

Storage price

The price per GB per month increases from left to right

Retrieved price

The total Price per GB per month transferred decreases from left to right

Use cases Content storage and delivery In-region analytics transcoding Long-tail content backups Archiving, disaster recovery

Multi-regional storage:  At least 2 geographic locations separated by at least 160km

Regional: To store data close to their computing engine or virtual machines

Cloud Storage Pricing

Pricing for Cloud Storage services is based on what you use, i.e., the amount of data you store, the time period for which you store it, the number of operations you perform, and the network resources used when moving or accessing your data.

STANDARD STORAGE NEARLINE STORAGE COLDLINE STORAGE ARCHIVE STORAGE

starting at $.02 per 

GB per month

starting at $.01 per 

GB per month

starting at $.004 per 

GB per month

starting at $.0012 per 

GB per month

Use Cases of Cloud Storage

  • Integrated repository for analytics and ML: Cloud Storage is strongly consistent giving accuracy in analytics workloads.
  • Media content storage and delivery: Cloud Storage provides the availability and throughput needed to stream audio or video directly to applications and websites.
  • Backups and Archives: Backup data in Cloud Storage can be used for more than just recovery because all storage classes have ms latency and are accessed through a single API.

Features of GCP

  • Object Lifecycle Management: Define conditions that trigger data deletion or transition to a cheaper storage class.
  • Object Versioning: Continue to store old copies of objects when they are deleted or overwritten.
  • Retention policies: Define minimum retention periods that objects must be stored for before they’re deleted.
  • The object holds: Place a hold on an object to prevent its deletion
  • Customer-managed encryption keys: Encrypt object data with encryption keys stored by the Cloud Key Management Service and managed by you.
  • Customer-supplied encryption keys: Encrypt object data with encryption keys created and managed by you.
  • Uniform bucket-level access: Uniformly control access to your Cloud Storage resources by disabling object ACLs.
  • Requester Pays: Require access to your data to include a project ID to bill for network charges, operation charges, and retrieval fees.
  • Bucket Lock: Bucket Lock allows you to configure a data retention policy for a Cloud Storage bucket that governs how long objects in the bucket must be retained.
  • Pub/Sub Notifications for Cloud Storage: Send notifications to Pub/Sub when objects are created, updated, or deleted.
  • Cloud Audit Logs with Cloud Storage: Maintain admin activity logs and data access logs for your Cloud Storage resources.
  • Object- and bucket-level permissions: Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM) allows you to control who has access to your buckets and objects.          

Note: Cloud storage is binary large-object storage with high performance, internal scale, and simple administration (does not require capacity management).

Conclusion

In this article, we covered what is Cloud storage in the Google Cloud Platform, Types of storage in the Google Cloud Platform, their features, and pricing which is more important to learn while you are starting to learn the cloud storage. To know more about file storage refer to Google File System.



Last Updated : 06 May, 2023
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